An excellent second episode. After a first episode presenting every important character, we're going straight into the action and it was good and very stressful with some very hard to watch scenes. Nimue steals the show with her performance this time but we see also very solid performances from Uther, Derfel and Morgan. I hope we get to see more of her as well. The episode does a great job preparing for Arthur's return too. You can tell there competent people in Dumnonia but they're sorely lacking in strong leadership. I will be very interested to know how Nimue's story continues but also how the show will continue to talk about how deeply patriarchal and mysoginist, the Dumnonia society is and I wonder if Arthur's return will have an impact on that.
2 Reviews
Confusing motivations, frantic direction
wbeddow10 January 2024
The major plot points of this episode seem to rely on characters doing things that just don't make any sense. Uther does the thing everyone (including Uther, apparently) thinks is wrong. We just skip over the "why" and move right along.
And seriously, what was Nimue trying to accomplish? I couldn't stop thinking that for the rest of the episode it was so completely baffling.
The action sequences are overly drawn out, padded with dozens of hard camera cuts per minute. Making the audience disoriented is not the same as compelling action. Same with the constantly shaking camera. At some point, it detracts from the tension rather than enhancing it. It reminded me of Battlestar Galactica, where the violently bouncing camera quickly becomes a distraction.
The slower paced fight scene worked much better, but still suffered from over editing or direction, whichever is responsible for the constantly switching camera angles. Perhaps this is an attempt to mask some of the lower budget set pieces, but I still think it was unnecessary.
The ending was was quite compelling, enough to give me a reason to watch the next episode. I admit I still want this series to work as I have fond memories of the source material. Hopefully there will be more focus on the "why" of the story, not just the "what".
And seriously, what was Nimue trying to accomplish? I couldn't stop thinking that for the rest of the episode it was so completely baffling.
The action sequences are overly drawn out, padded with dozens of hard camera cuts per minute. Making the audience disoriented is not the same as compelling action. Same with the constantly shaking camera. At some point, it detracts from the tension rather than enhancing it. It reminded me of Battlestar Galactica, where the violently bouncing camera quickly becomes a distraction.
The slower paced fight scene worked much better, but still suffered from over editing or direction, whichever is responsible for the constantly switching camera angles. Perhaps this is an attempt to mask some of the lower budget set pieces, but I still think it was unnecessary.
The ending was was quite compelling, enough to give me a reason to watch the next episode. I admit I still want this series to work as I have fond memories of the source material. Hopefully there will be more focus on the "why" of the story, not just the "what".
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